Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) says it has trained an additional 1,500 former agitators for single-digit interest loans offered by the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL).
The training, which took place at designated centres in Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom states, is in continuation of a programme for NIRSAL loans which PAP commenced last November.
Speaking at the training programme in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, PAP Interim Administrator, Milland Dixon Dikio, said the focus was to facilitate and enhance single-digit interest loans for entrepreneurs in the region.
Dikio, who was represented by the Head of Reintegration, Alfred Kemepado, said the training would help the loan beneficiaries to grow their businesses and mitigate risks.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Neotaobase Egbe, Dikio urged the beneficiaries to use the loans judiciously to become successful entrepreneurs.
He, however, warned that diverting the money would create more hardship for them and further throw the Niger Delta region into extreme poverty.
At the Yenagoa and Port Harcourt centres, Dikio, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Projects, Godwin Ekpo, urged the beneficiaries to form cooperatives and focus on agriculture.
A senior Reintegration Officer in PAP, Benjamin Appah, who stood in for Dikio in Warri, explained how the beneficiaries were extracted from across the region for the various centres.
“The names were compiled across impacted communities, PAP success stories, PAP cooperatives and the documented bonafide beneficiaries of the amnesty programme. We received the names through their camp leaders, their cooperatives and the post-training units.
“This loan is a scheme organised by the Federal Government. However, PAP decided to bridge that gap and facilitate a training by engaging a consultant who will train beneficiaries and show them the prerequisite of accessing the loans and also guide them through getting a credible business plan,” Appah added.
